The Somerset reporter., 1887-12-14
A PROSpECTOR'S LIFE.
A HARD WAY TO ACQUIRE THE PRE-
ClOUS METAL.


Guich and Mountain side-Loneiy Days
OF Toll and Dlsappointment-Trou
with sneaking Claim Jumpers.
In the spring time, often with no other
companion than stubborn pack mule,
which he leads along by halter, the
gold hunter turns his back on such CIVIL
cation as border towns can boast OF and
hides himself among the awful solitudes
of the mountains, where he remains, ex-
cept when he repairs to tho nearest settle
ment to procure fresh supplies, pursuing
his lonely and dangerous tasks until the
storms Of winter compel him to seek shell
ter again among the habitations of his
fellow men As the gold hunter ascends
the slope Of the mountain which he has
selected as the scene OF his explorations
lie notes every change in the structure or
the composition of the rocks. When Ia
yorable locality Is reached, locality
where the geological formation indicates
the presence of gold, he stops at the first
spring of water, unpacks his outnt,
pitches his tent, II he has one, which Is
rarely the case, pickets his tired mule,
gathers n few loose rocks and places them
in the form of horseshoe on the ground
to serve as stove, and then, with bent
head and watchful eyes, carefully scans
every gulch and mountain side, prizes into
every nook and Granny in quest OF those
signs which mother nature always posts
near the spot where she has hidden her
precious treasures.
Far up on the rugged TANKS of that
storm riven mountain the gold hunter
breaks off piece Of rock from ledge and
lol it is fiecked with bright, yellow specks,
n. ~. Ill al n
mankind is so glad to possess His heart
beats fast as he examines the specimen.
He vets the bright specks with his tongue
and picks at them nervously with his PEN
knife. They crumble at the touch Of that
instrument, and then he throws the rock
down with an angry gesture, and mutters
disappointedly; pilgrim gold, be gosh.
Now he is down yonder in the gulch,
which seems as though it might be the re-
pository of vast amount of the yellow
metal, digging hole In the gravel. The
trend Of the rift Is north and south. Ma
ture never piled up drift in that manner,
especially in ravne In this range OF
of mountains, without sprinkling 1t with
gold. 1t was in just such spots as this
that she loved to secrete her most beauti-
full metal whenever it was torn from its
native home in the rock by the slowly adj
yancing glacier or the floods of bygone
ages.
The shaft is down three feet, and now
the miner fills his pan with gravel from
| the bottom of the pit and washes it in the
stream Yes, there is gold in the drift,
| for on the bottom of the pan glisten three
colors. They are mere specks, it is true,
but they are the genuine article, and no
mistake This small find encourages the
| I'll. t;,,,,., arph ha Enn
that the heavier particles of gold, no
matter what may have been their posi-
ton in the britt when it was first de-
posted, will not rest easy until they have
reached the bed rock and found crevice
| for their grave. And so he sinks the
shaft to the bed rock, twelve feet or more.
| He drifts east along the rock, he drifts
west, north and south, and finds the
precious stuff everywhere, but not in
sufficient quantities to pay.
Again he is up on that cliff. How did
he manage to scale those perpendicular
walls which form its sides9 1t seems as
though nothing but bird could find a
foothold, and yet there he is dancing
wildly around something that glitters in
the sunlight like an enormous ball of
silver. That pile is ore, rich in silver and
lead He mas just dug it out of the
ground. Is it any wonder, then, that he
| is in an ecstasy of delight, for it seems ms
though he had struck it rich at last. A
| little assistance from capital is all he re-
quires now to become a millionaire. He
sits down for moment and stares
toward the east with u yearnng look in
his soft gray eyes He is thinking, per-
haps of the home of his childhood, and
how he has met with success at last.
| 10 IN
away for dear life But the walls of the
lode have suddenly come together. 1t
was merely pocket of ore, and will
never make him rich or anybody else;
and fortune, who seemed so near to him q
moment ago, is as far away as ever.
The ''pinching OUT of that lode only
disheartens our prospector for moment
or so, for there he is now driving tunnel
at the foot of that granite boss There is
n fine lot of ore lying at the mouth Of the
opening. 1t is a sugary, comfy, drusy
quartz and is sprinkled here and there
with gold. Carefully examine the granite
walls of the lode and sec how clean they
are The most skilful workman could
not have made them so smooth or pol
ished them half so well. Observe those
shining punches of crystal there in the
heading, a sure sign that the vein Is n live
| one. III is SIN lecl DetWeeu WILLS anu tlit
lead matter averages $40 per ton. 1t is
surely rich ledge and the miners fond
est hopes may yet be realized.
But who are those two men who have
have just come over the crest of the hill
above the tunnel? One of them has a
wooden box under his arm. 1t has no
cover and there is a paper containing
some writing fastened on the inner side
of its bottom. They are a villainous
looking pair these two, and are there for
no good purpose. See how they crawl
along almost on their stomachs. They
conduct themselves as though some one
might see them and make target OF
their worthless carcasses. But nobody
molests them. They have come to halt,
set the box down on its end and pile loose
rocks around it to keep 1t in place, and
then sneak off the way they came like a
couple of coyotes, which they closely re-
semble.
These two worthless belong to that dis
reputable class known here in the west as
''clam jumpers" They have been sent
out by some covetous Spectator, who
wants the earth and who sticks Mt nothing
to get it, or Mt least large slice of it. lie
has learned in some way of this promising
prospect and has engaged these wretchea
to post notice thereon claiming the prop
erty. There will be n fierce dispute over
it now. The matter will be brought into
the courts and will probably be settled
some time in the next decade. 1t will be
u conflict of the friendess and peuniless
against the rich and influential.
Such is the real life of a gold hunter, eX-
cept in Il fw clses After years of eX-
hausting toll and just when his efforts
are about to he crowned with success,
others step in and steal the fruits of his
labors, or by trickery and fraud reap the
harvest which he has sown.-IIelena